Dec 30 2008

PowerPoint Design Principle #2: Control

Are you in control of your slides? (c) iStockPhoto/Andy Gehrig

Are you in full control of your PowerPoint presentation? (c)iStockPhoto/Andy Gehrig

In a previous article, I covered the first PowerPoint design principle of consistency. In this article, I’d like to explore the principle of control. Many PowerPoint users fail to realize they control many aspects that determine the success or failure of their presentations. Seemingly insignificant decisions in the presentation design stage can come back later to haunt the presenter when the presentation is delivered. For example, choices about what content to include, how to introduce the content, or what “special effects” to use can make or break presentations. Continue reading “PowerPoint Design Principle #2: Control”

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Dec 27 2008

How to Embed Your Own Custom Font in PowerPoint

In Seth Godin’s article, Nine Steps to PowerPoint Magic, he recommends that presenters buy or download a custom font to use in their PowerPoint presentations. He states, “This is like dressing better or having a nicer business card. It’s subtle, but it works.”

This good idea could backfire as soon as you share your presentation with someone who doesn’t own the same font or if you deliver your presentation on another computer. This article will focus on how you can embed a custom font in a PowerPoint file so that it stays intact for other people to enjoy on their computers. Continue reading “How to Embed Your Own Custom Font in PowerPoint”

Tags: , , , , ,

Dec 20 2008

Book Review: Made to Stick

Made to Stick

Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, written by Chip and Dan Heath, breaks down how ideas can be made more powerful and long-lasting by following a simple set of rules. This book focuses on what should be the essence of any business presentation – how to create a core message that resonates with an audience and causes them to act in a desired way. I highly recommend Made to Stick (five of five stars) as it is well-written and provides a pragmatic approach to forming sticky ideas – a crucial foundation for any great presentation. Continue reading “Book Review: Made to Stick”

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Dec 17 2008

How to Create a Sexy Curved Arrow in PowerPoint

When you’re trying to highlight a key part of a chart or table, you may want to use an arrow. It’s fairly easy to create an arrow in PowerPoint 2007, but it is not as obvious how to create an eye-appealing curved arrow. I find that curved arrows are frequently better than straight arrows because they can bend around other important data points in a chart or table rather blocking them. And let’s face it — straight arrows are very boring. Continue reading “How to Create a Sexy Curved Arrow in PowerPoint”

Tags: , , , ,

Dec 08 2008

Content Staging: Propel Your Slide Content Higher

Like a rocket, introduce your content in stages to propel your slides higher!

When you’re presenting your slide content, the last thing you want to do is overwhelm your audience with too much information on any one slide. If you find that you have too much content on one slide, you can divide it up and spread it over several slides. However, sometimes it’s not about simply breaking the content apart across multiple slides but about displaying the information more effectively in bit-size, digestible chunks in one slide. In these latter cases, I leverage a PowerPoint Ninja technique called content staging. Continue reading “Content Staging: Propel Your Slide Content Higher”

Tags: , , , , ,

Next Page »